D&D 4E Mearls, 4e PHB playtests, and Wedding Day?

catsclaw227 · Oct 8, 2007

Mike Mearls' Designer Blog on Wizards.com said:
I have no time to blog, since we have to turn over the developed Player's Handbook on Friday, October 5. On Sunday, October 7, I get married to the greatest woman in the world. As some of you might imagine, this is a hectic time in my life.

When we make the turnover, I'll post here. Until then, I'm going to be quiet for a while.

There'll be playtest changes to enter and all that in the next phase, but the bulk of the work on the 4e Player's Handbook will be done.

So while getting the 4e PHB in it's next major phase, he goes and gets married the next Sunday. Congrat's Mike! I know what a wedding takes and your fiance/wife must have been pretty patient leading up to "the big day".

HugeWorkDeadline + WeddingDay = MajorStress^2

But I digress... With the PHB going out to the major outside playtest groups, he states later in the blog:

Mike Mearls' Designer Blog on Wizards.com said:
For example, the classes and their associated mechanics are all done. They've been playtested through three or four versions. The current versions are done in the sense that playtest notes focus on specific bits of abilities, rather than grand, conceptual issues. That kind of feedback shaped what we have now.

When it comes to playtest, we need lots of people to look at every mechanic and spot places where things don't synch up, where combos lead to strange results, and where imprecise language causes bizarre and unintended results.

For something like feats, we've polished the mechanics of existing feats and identified areas where we need a few more of them. As we work through the home stretch playtests, we'll likely send out new feats for testing and comment to fill those holes. At this stage, it's much more an issue of making sure we have a good mix of feats for every class and race.

I wonder how much internal playtesting was done and for how long? "They've been playtested through three or four versions." suggests for at least a year, since they've been planning it since 2005, but I wonder how many gamer hours this was. And when do they plan on cutting off the outside playtests, and how many gamer hours to they want to accumulate as a baseline before they say it's good enough.

Mike, can you shed any light on this (if you are still reading these posts?)

And congrats again, Mike. I wish you a long and fruitful family life.

psionotic · Oct 8, 2007

Congrats to Mike...!

Also, we hopes that by major outside playtesting groups, he also means the third party developers. Those guys need their lovin', and soon, if we're going to have healthy third party support off the starting line.

Varianor Abroad · Oct 8, 2007

That's excellent for Mr. Mearls! (Who's he getting married to? Someone who works at WotC or someone else? Names?

)

I wouldn't count third party publishers as "major outside playtesting groups" by any stretch of the imagination. That is likely the RPGA and the selected volunteers.

hong · Oct 9, 2007

Shroomy · Oct 9, 2007

Congratulations Mike (hopefully you are reading this right now)!!!

That is a hectic weekend, turning in the draft PHB and then getting married the next day. I wouldn't be too surprised if the playtesters find a draft version of his vows tucked away in the rules!

Tharen the Damned · Oct 9, 2007

Shroomy said:
Congratulations Mike (hopefully you are reading this right now)!!!

That is a hectic weekend, turning in the draft PHB and then getting married the next day. I wouldn't be too surprised if the playtesters find a draft version of his vows tucked away in the rules!

Hopefully he does not find a draft version of some rules instead of his vows at the wedding.

Thornir Alekeg · Oct 9, 2007

Shroomy said:
Congratulations Mike (hopefully you are reading this right now)!!!

That is a hectic weekend, turning in the draft PHB and then getting married the next day. I wouldn't be too surprised if the playtesters find a draft version of his vows tucked away in the rules!

WTF, not only does the Paladin have to be Lawful Good, but now he has to, "Love as he has never loved before?!" And what's with the part about them doing dishes? Can they lose their paladinhood if they don't?